Land Acquisition Specialist

Land Acquisition Specialist

Westervelt Ecological Services (WES) creates mitigation and conservation banks and provides environmental mitigation and habitat planning services to landowners, businesses, government agencies, and land trusts. Our established industry leaders excel in the field of wetland and endangered species mitigation services, to create a nationwide habitat mitigation company. We are looking for an experienced Land Acquisition Specialist in our Auburn, Alabama office to help support sourcing and acquiring land for development of conservation mitigation banks. This position will work primarily in person in our Auburn office, with regular business travel as appropriate to visit and preview potential land sites.

The duties of this role include the following:

• In coordination with WES management, and input from conservation planners and ecologists, follow up with potential properties for mitigation and other ecological services.
• Conduct reconnaissance on land ownership, property title constraints, and acquisition feasibility factors.
• Reach out to prospective land owners, either individually or in association with a real estate agent or broker.
• Identify and qualify potential real estate agents/brokers, if needed.
• Under guidance from leadership, conduct initial review of contracts and purchase documents.
• Support WES leadership by acting as the point of contact with land owners on the terms of potential acquisition or partnership.
• Provide administrative support during the close of escrow and coordinate with project and company managers.
• Coordinate with WES regional managers and project managers to make sure the negotiated terms of each transaction meet the specific scheduling and other substantive needs of the project plan.
• Track the progress of purchases and alert project managers and the Finance Process Leader of pending deadlines.
• Coordinate obtaining signatures for execution of purchase and sales agreements.
• Ensure the quality of the acquisition processes and outcomes in each of WES's regions.
• Provide administrative and other support to the sales and business development teams as needed
• Will require travel as needed to visit potential sites.

Ideal candidate will have the following:

• Bachelor's Degree preferably in Environmental Science, Economics, Business, Public Administration
• 3-4 years of related land acquisition experience with preferred experience in real estate related legal matters- particularly with land acquisition as it pertains to mitigation rights
• Intermediate level Microsoft office skills, computer skills
• Knowledge of the real estate process from start to close of escrow
• Able to manage multiple opportunities while providing a high level of detail and communication with WES leadership
• Able to made sound business decisions, build relationships and trust with landowners, real estate brokers and internal WES stakeholders
• Sales aptitude and ability to negotiate and make financial recommendations on land purchases within the WES budget and scope
• Ability travel as needed (approximately 25% of time)